{"id":53702,"date":"2021-11-20T14:38:12","date_gmt":"2021-11-20T13:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/concerns-reactions-as-buhari-mulls-release-of-nnamdi-kanu"},"modified":"2021-11-20T14:45:26","modified_gmt":"2021-11-20T13:45:26","slug":"concerns-reactions-as-buhari-mulls-release-of-nnamdi-kanu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/concerns-reactions-as-buhari-mulls-release-of-nnamdi-kanu","title":{"rendered":"Concerns, reactions as Buhari mulls release of Nnamdi Kanu"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Mixed reactions have trailed the declaration by President Muhammadu Buhari to consider the appeal by some Southeast leaders to release Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.<\/p>\n

The Southeast leaders under the aegis of Highly Respected Igbo Greats, led by First Republic parliamentarian and Minister of Aviation, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, called for the release Kanu during a meeting with Buhari at the State House, Abuja.<\/p>\n

Amaechi pleaded with the president that, rather than opting for military actions, political solutions should be considered in Kanu\u2019s case.<\/p>\n

Responding, Buhari who promised to consider their appeal, however, noted that an unconditional release of Kanu runs contrary to the doctrine of separation of powers between the Executive and the Judiciary.<\/p>\n

The president also stressed his on his policy of non-interference with the Judiciary.<\/p>\n

However, a constitutional lawyer, Maduabuchi Idam, countered the president\u2019s stance that he would be interfering with the judiciary, if he orders Kanu\u2019s release.<\/p>\n

Idam explained that contrary to the president\u2019s remark, the Nigerian constitution permits Buhari to direct the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami to withdraw the case against Kanu.<\/p>\n

Speaking with DAILY POST, the Abuja-based lawyer said, on the interest of the public, the president can direct Malami to withdraw all cases against anyone, including the IPOB leader.<\/p>\n

According to Idam: \u201cKindly note that if an offence is alleged to have been committed, it is the state that prosecutes the alleged offender. In this context, the state is the Presidency and that is why it is the office of the Attorney General of the Federation that prosecutes Mr. Nnamdi Kanu and those of his members on behalf of the Federal Government.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeanwhile, by virtue of Section 174 (1),(c) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as Amended, the AGF has the constitutional power to amongst others, enter a \u201cnulle prosecui\u201d ( power to discontinue a case) in favour of any person being prosecuted for any offence on behalf of the Federal Government. Similarly, the power is also available to the AG of the State with respect to State offences. See Section 211 of the Constitution.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the light of the above, the President of Nigeria, in the interest of the public, can direct the AGF to withdraw any case that is instituted against any one on behalf of the Federal Government.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the operation of the said provision of the constitution, the AGF has the vires to personally or through an officer in his office, walk into the court where Mr. Kanu is undergoing prosecution and apply to withdraw the charges against him and his members, and the court has no power under the constitution or any law, to refuse the Application or demand the AGF to give an explanation for that.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the President feels that a matter should be withdrawn from the court for public interest, all he needs to do is to direct the AGF to do the needful.<\/p>\n

\u201cI must say that I commend the courage of Mr. President for the first time, at least for saying that he will consider the request to release the IPOB Leader, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu and his members.\u201d<\/p>\n

Idam\u2019s remark was, however, countered by a Northern socio-political activist, Yaro Abdullahi, who warned on the dangers of releasing Kanu.<\/p>\n

Abdullahi warned that Kanu\u2019s release may serve as a spring board for other people to commit serious crimes and get away with it.<\/p>\n

He pointed out that nobody in the history of Nigeria has committed Kanu\u2019s kind of crime; hence releasing him would be sending the wrong message.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you start considering the release of a criminal like Kanu, who ordered killing of people. Because of his criminal style of agitation, the Southeast is no longer peaceful, releasing him would be sending the wrong signal that people can just do anything and get away with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my view. The president should allow the judiciary to do their work and not listen to all those appeals. If the courts find him guilty, he should face the music and if it\u2019s the other way round, he should be released.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe president, while considering should also note the damage Kanu is capable of doing if set free,\u201d he told DAILY POST.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Nigeria<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. Mixed reactions have trailed the declaration by President Muhammadu Buhari to consider the appeal by some Southeast leaders to release Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB. The Southeast leaders under the aegis of Highly Respected Igbo Greats, led by First Republic parliamentarian and Minister of Aviation, Chief Mbazulike […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":53701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,29,28,14,26],"tags":[1570,2140,97,254,625],"class_list":["post-53702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-nigeria-2","tag-buhari","tag-nigeria","tag-nnamdi-kanu"],"yoast_head":"\nConcerns, reactions as Buhari mulls release of Nnamdi Kanu - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mixed reactions have trailed the declaration by President Muhammadu Buhari to consider the appeal by some Southeast lead ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/concerns-reactions-as-buhari-mulls-release-of-nnamdi-kanu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Concerns, reactions as Buhari mulls release of Nnamdi Kanu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mixed reactions have trailed the declaration by President Muhammadu Buhari to consider the appeal by some Southeast lead ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/concerns-reactions-as-buhari-mulls-release-of-nnamdi-kanu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-11-20T13:38:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-11-20T13:45:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2021\/11\/img-6198fbd92d05d.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/concerns-reactions-as-buhari-mulls-release-of-nnamdi-kanu#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/concerns-reactions-as-buhari-mulls-release-of-nnamdi-kanu\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Concerns, reactions as Buhari mulls release of Nnamdi Kanu\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-20T13:38:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-20T13:45:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/concerns-reactions-as-buhari-mulls-release-of-nnamdi-kanu\"},\"wordCount\":732,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/concerns-reactions-as-buhari-mulls-release-of-nnamdi-kanu#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2021\/11\/img-6198fbd92d05d.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Nigeria\",\"Buhari\",\"Nigeria\",\"Nnamdi Kanu\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"homepage-english\",\"Policy\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/concerns-reactions-as-buhari-mulls-release-of-nnamdi-kanu#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/concerns-reactions-as-buhari-mulls-release-of-nnamdi-kanu\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/concerns-reactions-as-buhari-mulls-release-of-nnamdi-kanu\",\"name\":\"Concerns, reactions as Buhari mulls release of Nnamdi Kanu - 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